


"To Boldy Go..."

by AXEe



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hints of Archer/T'Pol if you squint, Museums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:20:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24926044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: I have a love/hate thing with "Enterprise", while it's not as seething, fury-inducing as what I feel for "Discovery" (nowhere near) I still have problems with "Enterprise" in particular with the whole Temporal Cold War storyline.So I wrote this.  Enjoy! :=)
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	"To Boldy Go..."

**Author's Note:**

> I have a love/hate thing with "Enterprise", while it's not as seething, fury-inducing as what I feel for "Discovery" (nowhere near) I still have problems with "Enterprise" in particular with the whole Temporal Cold War storyline.
> 
> So I wrote this. Enjoy! :=)

******

**Earth  
April 5th 2243  
First Contact Day…**

One of the few public institutions to survive the horrors of the Third World War, the Smithsonian Institute and its vast catalog of priceless artifacts had only survived due to the dedication of its staff, many of whom had stayed behind in Washington, D.C. amidst ECON attacks to ferry as many of the Institute’s exhibits to safety, many of those same men and women had perished in the nuclear strike against the United States’ capital city along with countless others, but their sacrifice had not been in vain, for they had saved countless priceless artifacts that served a vital record of Humanity’s past achievements.

Following the end of the war and the later First Contact between Earth and Vulcan, the artifacts—disassembled and hidden throughout the nation—were slowly brought back into the light, being returned to a place of honor in the newly-refurbished and ever-expanding Smithsonian Institute, and as the various nation-states of Old Earth gradually dissolved to be replaced with the newly-formed United Earth the Smithsonian had continued to grow, serving as a repository for a variety of artifacts celebrating not only Earth but the numerous member-states of the United Federation of Planets.

One such artifact was housed in the Air and Space Museum, tucked into a rather small, unobtrusive corner next to Zefram Cochrane’s warp ship the _Phoenix_ , and a full-scale replica of his second warp ship the _Bonaventure_ all three under a banner proclaiming ‘ _the history of warp drive’_.

This particular artifact was a starship, larger than either the _Phoenix_ or the _Bonaventure_ yet smaller than the Daedalus-class starship on display outside, and unlike that ship, this one still bore the scars from its arduous journey, it hull scuffed and pitted, burn marks adorning its entire surface.

And yet, despite all of that, one could still clearly make out the lettering adorning its upper hull.

**UESPA NX-01  
ENTERPRISE**

The NX-01 was a household name by now, the first of Earth’s starships to successfully test the warp five engine, the first Human vessel to make contact with the Klingons, the first ship to encounter the Romulans through their subject race the Xindi, and one of the few—indeed, possibly the _only_ —ship to survive the Earth-Romulan War that first contact had brought about. And even now rumors abounded that the second of the newly-commissioned Constitution-class starships would be named _Enterprise_

Just in front of the ship was a console displaying a list of her historic achievements as well as a dossier on her crew. Standing before this console, on his very tippy toes, stood a ten year old boy, his entire attention devoted to the console and its contents, eagerly reading about how Captain Archer was the first Human to visit—unwillingly—the Klingon homeworld, how he and his first officer, the Vulcan T’Pol had stopped a terrorist attack by the xenophobic group known as Terra Prime, and how they also had the first known Human/Vulcan marriage, remaining married well after Archer’s retirement from Starfleet and his single term as the fourth president of the Federation.

“Impressive, isn’t she?”

Jumping, the boy turned to see an old man now standing behind him.

“Sorry,” the man chuckled “didn’t mean to startle you there,” pointing with his cane (which he didn’t really seem to need) the man gestured towards the NX-01 “not as impressive as some of the newer ships I’ll admit, but still impressive” he nodded before looking towards the boy expectantly, as if asking for his honest opinion.

The boy nodded in agreement.

“Very impressive,” he agreed “hard to believe that they could do anything in a ship like that though” he added.

“Can’t run without learning how to walk first, son” the old man remarked.

“No,” the boy agreed “I suppose not”

“First time at the museum?” the man wondered.

“Uh-huh,” the boy nodded “I wanted to see her” he nodded at the NX-01

“Not many people do anymore,” the man remarked. When the boy looked up at him in surprise, he nodded “hard to believe I know, but…after a time, when new advancements become commonplace, they start to lose their wonder,” he explained “what was once the ‘greatest invention’ soon becomes something ‘normal’ and people start to forget about those first pioneers to made it all possible,”

He swung his cane out to indicate the _Phoenix_ and the _Bonaventure_

“People may remember Cochrane because he was the first Human to travel at warp speed, but very few remember those who came _after_ him. The people who built on his achievement,” he explained “make sense?” he wondered.

The boy shrugged.

“I guess so”

“So, why’d you want to see her?” the man wondered, nodding at the NX-01.

“I want to be in Starfleet like my Dad” the boy exclaimed, grinning.

“Ah, you want to be an explorer, eh?” the man wondered.

“I want to the _best_ explorer” the boy grinned.

“Easy there,” the old man chuckled “ _‘don’t try to be a great man, just be a man and let history sort out the rest’,_ ” he recited “Zefram Cochrane” he chuckled.

“Jim?” a woman’s voice suddenly called “Jim?”

The boy turned.

“Oh. That’s my Mom” he explained.

“Better not keep her waiting” the old man advised.

“No,” the boy agreed, already hurrying off “bye” he waved.

“Bye” the old man waved back, turning back towards the NX-01 as a Vulcan woman silently came to stand next to him.

“You appear to have made an impression on that child” she noted.

“Hope so,” the man nodded “be a much better legacy than being a former politician”

“That is debatable” the woman noted. Gently looping her arm with his, she helped him along to the next exhibit.

“We sure had some fun back then, didn’t we?” he mused suddenly.

“ _‘Fun’_ would not be the adjective I would use,” the woman noted “however, it was a…stimulating experience” she conceded.

“That your way of saying that you still enjoyed yourself?” the old man wondered.

His companion merely quirked an eyebrow at him yet said nothing.

“Trip wishes to have us over for dinner tonight,” she said instead “I told him that I would ask you first”

“Fine, fine” the old man nodded, turning to give the NX-01 one last look over his shoulder. Smiling, Jonathan Archer pulled his wife closer as they continued on…

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Am I the only one who thinks that this would have made better series finale for "Enterprise" than what we got? Let know what you thought :=)


End file.
